Images of organization

The implications of seeing exceed biology, and can take us into the philosophical, as has been insisted by various philosophers. Perhaps this is reflective of a basic instability in vision. We see, but there is always the chance of seeing differently. And we can deal with this risk in a variety of ways. On the one hand, we can deal with the risk of having the wrong image by denying the validity of all others – this is absolutism. One the other hand, we can claim that any image is as good as any other, and that all images tell us something about the world. But perhaps this second, which is all the rage in certain circles today and claims for itself all of the virtues of democratisation, hides another variety of absolutism. An absolutism that tells us that we can see any old way we like, that we can change our mind with the weather and have the suppleness of youth when we change our minds. Anyone for real change?